


Dear Fellow Traveler

by avatarish



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Ambassador Sokka (Avatar), Angst, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Fluff, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:14:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25893484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatarish/pseuds/avatarish
Summary: And in our travels, we found our roads//you held it like a mirror, showing me the life I chose-Fire Lord Zuko chose his path almost eight years ago, and at twenty-four, he finds himself a successful, beloved, and lonely ruler. When Sokka returns to the Fire Nation as the tall, handsome ambassador for the Water Tribe, he finds himself reconsidering what his path is supposed to look like.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 56





	Dear Fellow Traveler

**Author's Note:**

> Title and lyrics from Dear Fellow Traveler by Sea Wolf.

The sky outside was a soft pink on that night, sun bleeding gold above the jagged edges of the caldera. Zuko had walked to the docks alone, wrapping himself in a dark red cloak and giving his royal guard the slip for the evening. He watched the blue-sailed ship drifting towards the harbor, a cool breeze ruffling his long, sleek black hair where it had fallen free of the loose topknot on his head beneath the hood of his cloak.

He watched the ship dock, orange clouds framing the Water Tribe sails and illuminating the dock workers helping unload the cargo. Fish, mostly, eelpouts and cod packed tightly in refrigerated ice crates specially designed to transport seafood by the man currently walking down the gangplank, his neck craned as though looking for someone.

The last five years had treated Sokka kindly. He’d grown, nearly half a head taller than Zuko, and what had once been a few patchy hairs that Sokka had excitedly shown him at seventeen had blossomed into a short, distinguished beard along the edge of his sharp jawline. He’d worn his blue tunic for the journey, arms free save for the patterned bands of black ink winding their way around his biceps. The tattoos were new--Sokka had mentioned them in his most recent letters, he’d been given them on his twenty-third birthday just a few weeks prior.

Zuko took a measured breath and lowered his hood, heart pounding as he called softly, “Sokka!”

The tall, handsome man that Zuko still could not believe was his best friend turned his head, and gave him such a blindingly joyful smile that was so very Sokka in nature. “Zuko!”

He found himself wrapped in strong, muscular arms and embraced Sokka in return, breathing into the side of his neck and enjoying the pleasant smell of seawater and salt. “Thought I’d come down without the whole entourage. Having a guard detail makes it a little difficult to have a quiet reunion.”

Sokka pulled back, beaming, his hands still grasping Zuko’s shoulders. “You’re taller. And your hair!” He raised a hand, carding it softly through the long black strands draped over Zuko’s shoulders. “I like it. It’s very regal.”

Zuko was sure his face must be steaming. He pulled back slightly, smiling despite himself. “It’s a pain. But it’s tradition.”

“Well, you look gorgeous.” Sokka bowed deeply before offering him his arm. “Can I accompany you to the palace, oh great Fire Lord Zuko?”

“It’s not too early in the visit for me to stab you,” Zuko said mildly, before grabbing Sokka’s hand. “Come on. We’ll go up the back way or people will be falling over me in the marketplace.”

-

Dinner was--as it tended to be, in Zuko’s opinion--a dreadful affair. He would have preferred to catch up with Sokka in the privacy of his quarters, perhaps with a bottle or two of rice wine; but the arrival of an ambassador from a foreign nation dictated a formal occasion, with dinner, drinks, and an appropriate amount of dancing. He sat stiff-backed on his cushioned throne at the head of the room. He’d redesigned the throne room to put him on the same level as his citizens (a barrier he was glad to be rid of), but the throne still made him deeply uncomfortable. He preferred to work from his office, with his mahogany desk and cozy red armchair, but events such as this demanded a certain amount of formality, and so he smiled at all the right moments and drank deeply from his glass of wine each time the daughter of another Fire Nation noble came up to introduce herself to Sokka with sly glances and puffed lips.

Sokka, however, seemed to take no notice of it. He sat on Zuko’s right, leaning against the arm of his throne in a way that made Zuko’s advisors wrinkle their foreheads, and whispered in his ear, his own glass of wine filling and emptying frequently.

“Seriously, how often do you have shindigs like this?” Sokka muttered as yet another woman left, looking put out at Sokka’s lack of interest. “And why are none of them hitting on you?”

“At least once a week, usually,” Zuko said, sighing. “We get a lot of important visitors. And they know it won’t do any good.”

“Once a week?” Sokka cursed under his breath. “That’s a lot of pretending to care.” He frowned. “Wait, what do you mean they know it won’t do any good?”

“Nothing,” Zuko mumbled, his face heating up. “They just don’t.”

“What, is it illegal to flirt with the Fire Lord?” Sokka grinned. “Are you allowed to flirt with them?”

“No, it’s not illegal--I can flirt with whoever I want!” Zuko said indignantly.

“So what is it, then?” Sokka leaned forward, refilling his glass and taking Zuko’s from his hand, refilling it as well.

“Look, it’s--well, my breakup with Mai was, uh...it was pretty public,” Zuko said weakly. 

“Oh,” Sokka said, nodding understandingly. “Been there, buddy. Did she say you were bad in bed?” 

“What? No!” Zuko’s mouth fell open and he shut it with a snap. “I’m not bad in--why would you think that?”

“Never mind,” Sokka said evasively with a wave of his hand. “So?”

“I told you how it went down,” Zuko said hesitantly, “in our letters, right?”

“Well...kind of?” Sokka wrinkled his nose. “You mostly just said she thought you weren’t right for each other and skedaddled.”

“Yeah, uh...well.” Zuko looked around, making sure the nobles and advisors on either side of them were well occupied with conversation, before leaning in. “I sort of realized that I, uh...don’t swing that way. You know what I mean?”

Sokka started so violently that he slopped half his wine glass down the front of his formal Water Tribe robes. Zuko grabbed a cloth napkin, dabbing at the mess, but Sokka seemed to take no notice, eyes wide. “Like, you’re...you’re gay?”

“Um. Yeah.” Zuko stopped trying to mop up the wine, meeting Sokka’s eyes with an unusual hesitancy gripping the inside of his chest. “Is...is that okay?”

“No, yeah, of course!” Sokka blinked a few times, shaking his head. “Sorry, I was just surprised, that’s all. That’s--that’s awesome. You’re grave! Sorry, you’re--I meant to say you’re great, but then I was going to say you were brave, too, and it just got all conjungled--”

Zuko slid a hand over his mouth, trying not to burst out laughing lest any more of the party start staring at them. “Thanks, Sokka. I think you’re grave, too.”

“So how did you-” Sokka broke off, gesturing vaguely at him and seemingly at a loss for words that would make sense. 

“It was really awkward,” Zuko said with a grimace. “We, um...well, the advisors thought it was about time for me to produce an heir, what with having been the Fire Lord for five years and all-”

“Oh, that’s gross!” Sokka cackled. “A bunch of old guys told you it was time to-”

“Shut up!” Zuko jabbed him in the side, nodding and smiling serenely at the noble sending scornful looks their way. 

“I’m guessing you couldn’t go through with it then.” Sokka took a sip of his wine to stifle the giggles threatening to work their way up his throat. “Damn. Can’t believe you went five years without doing it.”

“Really mature, Ambassador.” Zuko rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I’ve never done anything before. And Mai and I, we did some stuff. It’s just...it wasn’t as, um, nice. When it wasn’t with a guy.”

Sokka sprayed wine across the tablecloth in front of them, ignoring the shocked look the financial undersecretary gave him from a few seats down. “I-what? You’ve-you did-you’ve, you know, with a guy?”

“You are actually twenty-three, right?” Zuko said dryly. “Not a fourteen year old who can’t say the words “had sex”?”

“Wow.” Sokka leaned back, a strange sort of grin on his face. “Well. Not a happy surprise for Mai, then.”

“Not really,” Zuko said regretfully. “All things considered, it went better than it could have. She didn’t out me or anything. People just...assumed, I guess.”

Sokka shrugged, taking another long sip from his cup. He stared thoughtfully out into the crowd, the deep oranges and reds of the throne room glittering strangely in the soft blue of his eyes. Zuko couldn’t tell what he was thinking and chose instead to pick up a bean curd puff from a nearby platter, stuffing it in his mouth in a way that was distinctly less than regal.

-

He’d been anticipating Sokka’s arrival, of course, but there was nothing so intoxicating as the actual experience of finally having Sokka in the same place as him after years of back-and-forth letters and quick, in-and-out visits. He remembered fondly the year or so after Ozai had been defeated, his first year as Fire Lord. The gang had all been together then for at least a few weeks, working from the eye of the storm to try and rebuild the world from the inside out. Aang had been the first to go, of course, after a few weeks, to see what could be done to repopulate the Air Nomads. He’d been swiftly followed by Katara, sailing home to help her father in the Southern Water Tribe, and by Toph, citing a need to shake the mounting dust from her feet and return to the Earth Kingdom.

Sokka had been the only one to stay the whole year, sticking dutifully by Zuko’s side. While he’d wanted to believe that Sokka had stayed for him, he’d known full well that the Kyoshi warriors’ new gig as his bodyguards was a deciding factor.

And, of course, that had all been well and good until Suki had gently but firmly cracked Sokka’s heart in half. _ Like a sad, broken egg _ , Zuko remembered Sokka saying miserably, drunk off of a considerable amount of sake and laying facedown on Zuko’s red silk sheets. 

He’d left fairly quickly after that, citing a half-assed excuse of needing to get home and check on Katara and Hakoda. He’d barely said goodbye to Zuko before he’d sailed homeward.

Zuko didn’t want to admit it-wouldn’t admit it, not to anyone, not even to Uncle when he was visiting from Ba Sing Se-but he hadn’t been prepared for the loneliness of ruling. He’d not exactly been groomed for the throne by his father; and even if he had been, Ozai had always considered emotions like loneliness as beneath him. Zuko’s days were spent in meeting after meeting, briefly interrupted for painfully stiff social events and the occasional disguised endeavor into the markets of the caldera when he needed a reminder why he was putting up with his advisors’ constant bickering.

When Sokka had written him, proposing an extended stay in the Fire Nation as an ambassador to the Water Tribe, Zuko had all but begged him, sending an immediate yes and having the guest quarters just down the hall from him redecorated in Water Tribe blues. 

Sokka was just down the hall. The thought gave him a little jolt where he lay sprawled in bed, his usual mess of scrolls spread across his bare chest and reading glasses sitting crookedly on the bridge of his nose. It was past nightfall, quite late for him to be awake as a firebender who rose promptly with the sun each morning, but he’d found himself unable to sleep with the excitement of having his best friend so near. 

There was a quiet knock on the reddish mahogany of his bedchamber door. Zuko stood, discarded scrolls and reading glasses dropping to the bed, and wrapped his dressing gown around him. “Come in.”

Sokka’s face peeked around the door, grinning. “Hey there, Fire Lord. S’pretty late for you to be awake, isn’t it?”

Zuko shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Sokka stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him with a quiet click. “Yeah. Me neither.”

“Tea?” Zuko set the simple grey ceramic pot over the hot coals in the fireplace. It was a gift from his uncle, always a firm believer that the best tea came from the simplest cookware. 

“Please. Though I can always “leaf” you alone if you’re feeling too “bushed”.” Sokka winked at him. 

“I will throw hot coals at you,” Zuko said pleasantly, scooping out his uncle’s newest special blend.

“Sorry, sorry,” Sokka said with mock seriousness. “It’s just such a good joke, you know?”

“I missed you. Dumbass.” Zuko smiled at him, no real heat in his voice, then turned away, setting the tea to steep.

Sokka laughed softly. “I missed you too, jerkbender.”

They sat in companionable silence, candles burning low. Zuko poured their tea when it was ready, offering the first cup to Sokka-less steeped, with honey, the way he liked it-and taking the second for himself. 

“Thanks for having me here,” Sokka said quietly, taking a sip of his tea. He sounded very un-Sokka-like, voice deep and serious. “It’s nice to get away for a bit.”

“Is everything okay?” Zuko asked, internally sighing at his own lack of subtlety. He’d never been good at this; not like uncle, who could kindly hem and haw until Zuko found himself confessing his problems unprompted.

“It’s fine.” Sokka traced the rim of his cup halfheartedly. “Everything’s technically fine.”

“It doesn’t sound fine. No offense.”

He set down the cup abruptly. “It’s really stupid. You’re going to think it’s stupid.”

Zuko bit his lip before setting his own cup down next to Sokka’s, speaking in a quiet voice. “Want to hear something stupid that’s on my mind? That way, when you say what’s going on with you, it won’t feel as dumb.”

Sokka chuckled, but there was no heart in it, none of that signature Sokka charm, and Zuko’s heart twisted up inside his chest like a lemon. “Yeah, that sounds logical.”

“I was really excited when you wanted to come because I…” Zuko broke off momentarily, taking a long breath, “I’ve been really lonely. I’m surrounded by all these people, advisors and nobles and guards, and not one of them compares to you or Toph or Aang or Katara.”

Sokka studied him for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face, before breaking out in a real, genuine laugh. “That’s not stupid at all. You dumbass, it’s okay to be lonely. Tui and La, you’ve been Fire Lord for almost eight years and you’re still a little ball of emotional constipation.”

Zuko blushed. “Fuck you.”

Sokka’s face seemed to soften at that and he reached out, hand grasping Zuko’s shoulder. “Hey. It’s okay. I’m really glad I’m here. I don’t want you to be lonely.”

His hand was warm against the silk of Zuko’s robe, radiating against the soft skin underneath. Zuko took a steadying breath and smiled at Sokka. “You heard my stupid thing. What’s yours?”

Sokka’s hand slid from Zuko’s shoulder to pick up his teacup again, tracing the rim once more. “Dad’s decided to make Katara the next chief of the tribe.”

“Oh. I-wow. That’s...big.” Sokka’s shoulders were tense and Zuko could see the lines on his forehead. He knew the old rivalry between the siblings; Sokka had confessed to him, in the late blue hours of night, all of his feelings of inadequacy and his fears that he would always let his father down. 

“She deserves it,” Sokka said, sounding slightly hoarse and clearing his throat only moments later. “Katara is amazing. You know-she’s just, she’s an incredibly powerful bender, and she’s worked so hard-”

“But it feels like you’re being shoved to the side,” Zuko said quietly. “You’re the firstborn, and your sister is getting everything you’ve ever wanted-everything you’ve been told you’re supposed to want. Don’t get me wrong, Katara is-she deserves everything. But it doesn’t exactly feel great, being where you are.”

“I figured you’d understand,” Sokka said wryly. “I didn’t want to hurt her. I’m not mad at her or anything-obviously, I’m excited for her-I just thought it might not hurt to process my butthurt somewhere else.”

“You’re smart to get some space.” Zuko leaned in, pressing his shoulder to Sokka’s and hoping he wasn’t overstepping. “And if it helps, I’m selfishly glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” Sokka didn’t pull back, his head coming to rest on top of Zuko’s as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Hey.” Zuko stood, offering his hands to Sokka and pulling him to standing, abandoning their tea in front of the fireplace. “Want to stay here tonight? A sleepover? Just like old times.”

“Yeah, okay.” Sokka followed Zuko to the bed, grinning. “But you better not kick me in your sleep, Mr. Fire Lord.”


End file.
